Pride Isn't Everything
by Snowberryxoxo
Summary: A comical oneshot where Mikael is in his teen years as he tries to woo Esther, but it doesn't go completely as he planned and he finds Esther intriguing, but there's a problem. He doesn't know she's a witch or not to piss her off either...


**A/N: Hii, so my muse decided to bail out on me when I was writing on my other story "Before The Worst" and I decided along with Niknakz93 to try writing a comical Mikael/Esther story that might turn into a mini-story later ;)**

**Disclaimer: (Sadly) I do not own the Vampire Diaries or any of its characters, but I do own those that aren't in the books or show :)**

**Enjoy!**

**xoxo Ascha**

**Pride Isn't Everything**

Chapter 1:

**Eastern Europe**

Mikael sat sharpening his sword outside his home, his dark blonde hair keep falling in his face and making him groan in exasperation. He ran his fingers through his hair and as he did he spotted a young girl walking nearby, plucking herbs from different kind of plants and searching the area for more herbs. He sat his sword down and looked at the girl, who looked about fifteen or sixteen and smiled weakly. She had long honey blonde hair and alluring hazel eyes, the way she moved making him smile.

The girl suddenly turned her gaze towards him and they locked eyes for a moment, but only for a brief moment until she was distracted by the sound of someone calling her name. He watched as she picked up her basket with herbs and hurried away with another girl, who could easily be her older sister.

"Esther," he said quietly to himself. "Esther, Esther, Esther…"

Mikael stood up and hurried into the stables to fetch his horse, mounting it so quickly that he nearly fell of it, but he managed to keep his balance and rode off towards the market. Once he saw something or – in this case – _someone _he wanted, he was determined on getting it, so he went looking for Esther, hoping that she had not gotten far.

However, he had decided to go to the market on a bad time of the day, because it was filled with villagers from his home, who were trying to sell their vegetables, meat or jewelry as usual. He stopped his horse and scanned the area for the blonde haired girl, spotting her talking with a man he knew very well.

It was his nemesis Albert and he was putting on his charm to woo her.

He knew how loose a moral Albert had, so he tied his horse to a nearby tree and hurried past the many villagers to get to her in time. He arrived just in time as Albert was telling a fake story about how he took town a male deer alone. Esther didn't seem impressed at all, so he thought he'd better save her from his false tales.

"Ah, are you telling about the time that deer head-butted you?" he asked, smirking mischievously.

Albert's cheeks became crimson and he looked embarrassed at first, but then he quickly covered up the embarrassment with a smile.

"No, Mikael, why would I tell something foolish like that that even didn't happen?" he answered, flashing Mikael a smug smirk.

"Oh, but it did happen – I was there, remember?" That part wasn't true, but he knew someone who had been there and he had told that Albert ran crying away.

Esther giggled, which only made Albert's cheeks turn more crimson, and he decided to walk away with his dignity still intact, while Mikael stayed behind. He turned his gaze to Esther and flashed a charming smile, but she looked skeptically at him.

"Albert is such a showoff," he said. "I thought you could need some help, Miss…?"

"Esther," she said, smiling sweetly. "And you must be Mikael. The son of the blacksmith. I have heard many stories about you, so don't even bother trying to woo me too."

She turned and walked off, leaving Mikael dumbstruck in the overcrowded market. Never had a girl rejected him just like that or been able to resist his smile, but he wasn't giving up yet. He shook his head and went back towards his horse, but he was stopped by Albert, who was now accompanied by his friends and Albert was looking anything else, but pleased about seeing him.

Instinctively, Mikael reached out for his sword, but when he realized that he had forgotten it at home and Albert noticed that too. He pulled out his own sword and held the tip of the blade dangerously close to his throat, but Mikael tried to show no fear.

"So now the great Mikael doesn't have anything to say? Huh, strange. Did a cat eat your tongue?" Albert teased, his friends snickering in the background.

Mikael grinned. "Oh, I have something to say alright. Watch out for that bucket."

Albert frowned, but then when he took a step towards Mikael his foot got caught in a bucket filled with water. Mikael quickly pushed him into his friends, knocking nearly all of them down in the process and fled as they were distracted. He ran as fast as he could back towards his horse, but he could still hear Albert and his friends screaming his name and trying to stop him.

Luckily, Mikael managed to jump up on his horse just in time before they came and rode quicker than he had ever ridden before. He noticed, though, that Albert was following him on his horse, so he changed his direction and rode towards the woods instead, hoping to get rid of him or – if he was lucky – make Albert fall off and break a leg or two.

"_You cannot run forever, Mikael!_" Albert snarled, starting to close in on him.

Mikael made his horse jump off the path and run in between the trees, quickly ducking his head before he hit his head on a branch, but Albert didn't notice the thick branch in time and was knocked off the horse. He grinned and rode back to Albert, who was moaning in pain on the ground. He noticed that Albert was actually crying, which really didn't surprise him.

"I am telling this to my father!" he growled. "I will have you and your pathetic father tossed out of the village!"

"Oh, please! If you had that kind of power you would have tossed me out a lot earlier!" he scoffed. "I could help you up, you know, and give you a ride back, but… you did try hurting me _and_ you threatened me when I was unarmed, so I'm just going to leave you out here. Bye, Albert!"

Albert's eyes widened. "What? You cannot leave me out here!"

"Sure I can! I mean, didn't you say that you took down a male deer alone?"

Mikael grinned and left the woods, but before he did so he threw a bottle of water down to him. He might hate Albert, but he wouldn't really leave him behind if he had been severely injured. He merely wanted to teach Albert a lesson and that he had done.

But now he needed to find Esther and that would be quite difficult since he had no clue of where she lived. He figured that she lived nearby the market, so he went back and spotted her older sister still there. He decided to follow her at a safe distance and eventually ended up at their humble, but beautiful home.

Outside the house was Esther, braiding her younger sister's long hair and decorating it with flowers. He couldn't stop himself from smiling, but unfortunately Esther was called inside by her mother, who reminded Mikael of the loss of his own mother many years ago to the plague. It was still spreading in his old hometown, but it didn't seem like it had spread to this village yet.

Mikael pushed the thoughts aside and dismounted his horse, tying it to a tree as usual and leaving it behind as he snuck closer to the house. He walked around to the back of the house in the search for Esther's bedchamber and found it after a few seconds.

Esther was humming beautifully to herself as she picked up some old books with strange writing on it. He noticed that she had a lot of peculiar crystals in her bedchamber and wondered if she was a witch or a believer of the supernatural.

However, before he could figure that out he suddenly felt someone poke his leg. He flinched and turned around, but sighed in relief when he realized that it was merely Esther's younger sister. The 4-year-old girl was looking at him with wide and curious eyes, and was about to say something, so he quickly shushed her and bent down so Esther would not see him.

"What is your name, sweetheart?" he asked quietly.

"Anna," she answered quietly. "Why did you look into my sister's room?"

Mikael's cheeks turned crimson and he tried coming up with an explanation, but he felt someone grab him by his hair and pull him up in a standing position. He locked eyes with Esther herself and she looked fairly pissed off.

"What are you doing here? Were you spying on me?" she said accusingly.

"Of course not! That would be very… unethically," he lied, feeling his cheeks turn warm. "I… um… You dropped your necklace, so I thought I would bring it to you."

Mikael regretted saying what he said the minute the words came out of his mouth, but it was too late. She was expecting him to have her necklace, which he didn't even have.

"Well?" Esther said daringly. "Where is it then?"

Mikael panicked, so he did what he did best and kissed her to her and his own surprise. But as he kissed her he discretely removed the necklace she had around her neck and hid it in his hand just before Esther pushed him away from her and slapped him hard across his face.

"Who do you think you are? You cannot just come here to my house and kiss me!" she snarled.

Mikael couldn't stop himself from grinning and handed her the necklace he had stolen. When Esther realized that he actually had the necklace her own cheeks turned crimson, but he left the house instead of waiting for her apology. He knew that she would come to him eventually and when he did he would be ready to win her heart.

"Such an intriguing young woman," he said, smiling to himself as he mounted his horse and rode back towards his home. "Could I finally have met my equivalent?"

As he pondered over the last part, he found himself touching his lips and reminiscing, the fiery first kiss they had shared. He might have been able to kiss her properly, had they not been standing between a window but he would just have to kiss her again next time, and show her that she should choose him over Albert.

All she was going to get from Albert was a broken heart and perhaps she would even loose her most precious gift. Albert had done it before and because of it young women had been disowned by their own parents. He might be cocky too sometimes, but at least he did not break the hearts of the girls that loved him. His father had thought him not to do that and another thing he had thought him was to always be a proud man no matter what.

As Mikael returned home he let his horse relax in the stables and continued sharpening his sword, reminding himself mentally of never to forget it at home again. He knew that Albert would want to take revenge on him for what he did, so he prepared himself for a fight between two enemies rather than just two young teenage boys, who were fighting over a girl they did not know.

One thing was sure.

A fight would break out and he would fight until the end or until Esther gave him a chance. Who knew? Perhaps they would end up marrying each other and live a pleasant life with many children?

Mikael liked that idea.

He had always wanted a big family since he had no siblings and his father was counting on him to make a lot of success when he became an adult. But none of these plans would even be executed if not he found the right woman to settle down with and particularly a young woman like Esther. She had the fire of a goddess inside her and the way she treated her younger sister made him wonder what kind of mother she would become.

"What am I thinking?" Mikael said aloud, shaking his head a bit. "I have only met her once and I am already thinking about marriage and children. I must be going mad!"

Still, he had liked the idea and he knew that he definitely liked Esther.

**Thanks for reading and please review! :D**


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